A big part of the problem is the complete lack of any kind of official tutorial for the average user when booting up the dramatic operating redesign for the first time. As a result many customers who have bought Windows 8 devices simply don't understand how to use their devices (to be fair, many features in OS X, such as the application launchers are as complex or more so as Windows 8's at-times-bewildering interfaces).

If you listen to customers (and vector back to the previous path in some way: undo, product modes, multiple products/SKUs, etc.) you will probably cede the market to the new entrants or at least give them more precious time. If technology product history is any guide, pundits will declare you will be roadkill in fairly short order as you lack a strategic response. There’s a good chance your influential customers will rejoice as they can go back and do what they always did. You will then be left without an answer for what comes next for your declining usage patterns.

If you don’t listen to customers (and stick to your guns) you are going to 'alienate' folks and cede the market to someone who listens. If technology product history is any guide, pundits will declare that your new product is not resonating with the core audience. Pundits will also declare that you are stubborn and not listening to customers.

That "d-mned if you do, d-mned if you don't" dilemma appears to be what Microsoft is facing now. Ms. Foley belives Microsoft is currently moving towards going back to Option A (returning to its previous path), but she warns that option could prove fatal to the company in the long term.

Still, she optimistically adds, "I believe Microsoft can stay its Metro-centric, touch-centric course with Windows Blue, while still making some changes that will make the OS more usable and comfortable fora bigger pool of users. While it would have been great if Windows 8 debuted this way last October, I say better late than never."

lol people add keyboards, case, memory, mouse, etc... on their tablets to get more functionality. Then they realize a laptop does all that for much less.

I have 2 tablets right now and they are just toys. Have both Ipad2 and Asus Transformer. Even with accessories and all the right app, it is still not even close to a laptop in functionality. It is good for me to take notes in a long lecture because I'm not pissing everyone off with my typing.

Buy a version of Office 2013 and see how much more expensive your laptop becomes, unless you're only going to be writing letters in the first month of the free trial period...

Pages for iPad is ten bucks, or wait for a sale and get it for five.

Or you could use Google's free online office suite, whatever it's called now. Works on PC AND iPad.

The unique thing about the tablet design is it doesn't have to always be a laptop. That's the whole point. Easier to carry, easier to read on transportation, better overall form and function for more tasks than just writing a letter. I use it far more than I ever used my laptop. If it doesn't work for you, that's perfectly fine. But you can't say you can't "do" anything with a tablet. I do all the time.

"Game reviewers fought each other to write the most glowing coverage possible for the powerhouse Sony, MS systems. Reviewers flipped coins to see who would review the Nintendo Wii. The losers got stuck with the job." -- Andy Marken